Great Lakes Brewing Co.'s 2020 lineup to feature new beers, first 12-ounce cans

A new look for GLBC's flagship Dortmunder Gold Lager, which will be packaged in 12-ounce cans for the first time since the brewery opened in 1988. The cans reflect the push for capturing a growing end of the beer-consumer market increasingly preferring aluminum vessels to glass.

Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewing Co. is rolling out a refreshed beer lineup in 2020 that calls for a handful of new styles as well as traditional, 12-ounce cans for a few particular brews, including its flagship Dortmunder Gold Lager. It's the first time that beer will be canned since the brewery opened in 1988.

While firmly cemented in Ohio's craft beer fabric as the state's oldest craft brewery — and the 20th-largest craft brewer in America — GLBC has drawn a reputation for being rather conservative in recent years despite the general popularity of its products, such as its storied Christmas Ale, which has a cultlike following and spawned numerous copycats. The brewery hasn't exactly become synonymous with product innovation and simply has a greater brand awareness among older consumers who grew up with GLBC products when the brewery was among just a few craft brewers in town.

Today, it's a much more crowded and competitive landscape, with more than 328 independent craft breweries in Ohio (and at least 66 in planning stages) and over 1,000 nationwide.

In particular, GLBC has fallen a bit behind on the aluminum craze as most of its beers are still packaged in bottles. Unfortunately, GLBC doesn't have any room for a canning line of its own at its current facilities in Ohio City.

Howver, getting into cans is huge for capturing a growing segment of the imbiber market it's been missing out on. According to Nielsen, glass still makes up most of the craft market (comprising about 67% of retail sales in 2018). But sales in cans spiked 40% in 2017 and 33% in 2018. The trend is fueled by the transportability of cans, which fit more occasions than bottles, such as golfing, boating or going to the beach. They're also easier to recycle.

Ultimately, can sales are growing while bottle sales are shrinking.

Recently installed CEO Mark King is acutely aware of this. As he discussed with Crain's in this recent feature about his plans for the business, King sees innovation in the product line and the taproom/restaurant itself as a top priority for GLBC going into 2020.

So, as announced this week, beginning in the second quarter of 2020, GLBC will release Dortmunder and Great Lakes IPA year-round in 12-ounce cans. Come spring, it will also offer its Mexican Lager (made with lime purée) as a seasonal offering in 12-ounce cans.

"As I look at the Great Lakes distribution footprint, which is really mostly states that touch the Great Lakes, and I look at the top 16 SKUs in the business, eight are cans and eight are bottles. Every can SKU is up and every bottle SKU is down," King noted. "So not only are people not just moving to cans, they're preferring them."

GLBC has canned some brews in 16-ounce vessels in recent years, like its Rally Drum Red Ale. But this will be the first time the brewery goes for traditional cans and builds those into its regular lineup.

Until now, some beers have been canned at Boston's Harpoon Brewery, including small-batch offerings like the Joe Thomas 73 Kolsch. Others, such as Rally Drum, were canned via Iron Heart Canning, a business that brings a mobile canning line to breweries.

Of course, canning in-house would save costs. But as GLBC still doesn't have a canning system of its own, King said it will partner with Brew Detroit for packaging the cans rolling out next year. The beer will still be made locally, then trucked up to Detroit, canned and shipped back out.

GREAT LAKES BREWING CO.

A new beer GLBC is releasing in 2020, the Bierwolf Dunkelweizen, is made with chocolate, orange peel and cold-brew coffee.

In with the new

Style-wise, GLBC's 2020 lineup features several new offerings. Those include a Bierwold Dunkelweizen (made with chocolate, orange peel and cold-brew coffee) and Siren Shores Passion Fruit Saison. Both will join GLBC's "legendary series" that "pairs mythological stories with premium styles and ingredients." Those beers, which include the Nosferatu Imperial Red Ale, will be sold in bottle four-packs.

In other news, GLBC will be announcing tweaks to its Ohio City restaurant/taproom in coming months.

Meanwhile, King said the brewery is also closing in on securing a roughly 60,000-square-foot warehouse space somewhere in Northeast Ohio. That's big news for the company as it's constrained with where it can store finished beers locally right now and has been using space at a warehouse owned by its distributor, Superior Beverage Group.

You might also recognize some new/refreshed labels. GLBC said it is working on designs with a new artist, Sam Hadley.

All these moves are part and parcel of the company's brand refresh, which you can read more about here.